Forgotten Silver Page #5

Nobody could stop the bleeding.

The child, a boy, had no chance.

And neither did she.

The both died in Colin's arms.

Colin was torn between guilt and despair.

Guilt over Maybelle

and despair because he'd finished the film,

but at what a cost.

And besides all that,

He was afraid that Palermo Pictures

or the Soviets

would claim Salome.

He made a very drastic decision:

He took all the film - cans and cans

of it - and buried it

right after he buried his family.

After the death of Maybelle, Colin had only

one thing on his mind: Escape.

On July 27, 1931,

Colin McKenzie sailed away from

New Zealand, never to return.

There's some concrete down underneath here.

Look, look, look!

Look, Johnny! There's some steps.

Look, see? Steps.

73 miles from civilization, the team had

found a grand concrete stair.

Here were ruined arches.

What's it look made of?

And fallen columns.

All around was the crumbling debris

of a huge man-made structure.

But the extent of the

find was still unclear.

Working at fever pitch,

the searchers began attacking the

dense vegetation,

eager to discover the

secrets which lay beneath.

After a week of solid effort, the team's

work was starting to pay off.

Colin disembarked into the heat

and bustle of Algiers in 1931.

Notorious as a haven for

vice and corruption,

North Africa was the perfect place for

a man who did not want to be found.

At the age of 43, Colin McKenzie, bought

his first drink.

And began a lost weekend that that

would continue over five years.

He might have easily ended his days

in an African prison or hospital,

had it not been a accident of fate.

In 1936, the military garrison in

Spanish Morocco

mutinied against the Republican government.

That revolt was to escalate into the

bloody struggle

we know today as the Spanish Civil War.

Newsreel crews flock to the scene.

Amongst them was Colin McKenzie,

determined to regain his self-worth.

Colin was not the only

New Zealanders in Spain:

A young nurse from Auckland named

Hannah Simpson was there,

working for the Red Cross.

Colin came in with a small shrapnel wound,

just needed a few stitches,

but he hung about.

And I kept watching. There was something

special about this man.

And we began to talk about New Zealand.

It was a long time since he'd been there.

And it all came out! His whole life,

he told me about.

We scarcely ever were apart.

He was twice my age,

but that seemed to have

no significance at all.

I'd just seemed to have found someone

who understood me completely.

As I understood him.

There was no time for a honeymoon.

Colin left next day for the front.

I mean, it's so frustrating that the trail

runs cold at the end of 1937.

We have one last photograph of

Colin McKenzie,

which is of him and the troops.

We've faxed and telephoned

every film archive,

every film museum, reference house -

all around the world - that we can think of

and the name of Colin McKenzie just

doesn't surface anywhere.

I mean, he just vanishes off the

face of the Earth.

Colin McKenzie's lost city has been released

from the strangle hold of the western bush.

The searchers were stunned by

the enormity of Colin's vision.

But the site had not yet given up all

of its secrets.

Under the remains of a ruined temple,

marked with the sign of Taurus,

was the entrance to an underground passage.

The tunnel led to a hidden vault.

Inside was a sight to rival the most

opulant Egyptian tomb.

Massive statues,

exquisite handmade costumes

and elaborate props,

finely-crafted swords and shields,

Laying undisturbed for 60 years.

This was Colin McKenzie's storeroom

for the production of Salome.

But his greatest treasure

surpassed all ends.

Here we go. And 3, 2, 1...

Hey! Bingo!

The crypt held thousands of feet

of processed film

in hundreds of cans.

It was all there.

Every scene Colin had shot for Salome.

Colin would have wanted

Salome to be finished.

He was so afraid that the Palermo

people, or the Soviets,

would take his precious film and mangle it

that he really wasn't in his right

mind when he buried it.

Colin would want Salome to be seen.

Once the decision had been made to

go ahead with the restoration of Salome,

John O'Shea, the doyen of New Zealand

filmmakers, was asked to oversee the task.

Interpreting what he

wanted is very difficult

but an editor is always faced with the

problems of

filling a director's

wishes as best you can.

If he was here, of course, he'd tell you

what to do, but

an editor has got to try and divine what

was in his mind.

With financial support from the

New Zealand Film Commission,

the painstaking restoration

proceeded smoothly.

A gala premier was planned

for New Zealand's most extraordinary

feature film.

However, 3 days before this event,

the Colin McKenzie saga was to deliver

one final twist.

Six months ago, we wrote to every

Spanish film archive

requesting footage from

the Spanish Civil War

that was credited to a cameraman

named Colin McKenzie.

In the last six months, nothing has turned up.

Not one foot of film.

Until this morning.

This roll of film here

was confiscated by the fascists at the

Battle of Malaga in 1937.

It's been sitting in an obscure Spanish

archive all this time, almost 60 years,

and it's credited to a cameraman

named C. McKenzie.

When we screened the film this morning, we

couldn't believe what we were looking at.

The minutes tick by until

the order to charge is given.

The Battle of Malaga was one of

the fiercest of the war.

Here we see that Colin is right behind the

Republican troops

as they charge Franco's fascists.

Intent on filming the action, Colin is

oblivious to personal danger.

As a fresh assault begins, a soldier falls

directly in front of Colin.

Colin puts the camera down.

He runs to help.

He stumbles.

Both men are killed.

On September 3, 1995,

The New Zealand film and

television industry

gathered for a very special premier.

There has never been a movie,

which has taken so long

between conception and completion,

and I predict there has never been a movie

which has given a first night audience

such a voyage of discovery as you're

about to embark on now.

I'm greatly honored to introduce the

world premier of.

Colin McKenzie's "Salome".

As the story opens, a group of women

and children await death.

The tyrant, King Herod has chosen

to make an example of them.

John the Baptist angrily denounces

the massacre.

Watching him is Herod's

stepdaughter, Salome.

John's defiance quickly

leads to his arrest.

Later, Salome meets her lover, Narraboth,

he is Herod's captain of guards.

Deep in the cells, John continues

preaching against Herod

and his evils ways.

He proclaims the coming of the Messiah

and the end of false kings.

Spurned by John, Salome goes to seek

her revenge with the king.

John's preaching reaches a fever pitch.

He incites the people to riot.

With her dance completed,

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